The Deep Space Habitat (DSH) is a series of concepts by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

that would be used to support crewed exploration missions to the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

, asteroids, and eventually

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

Overview

Since 2012, numerous iterations of large lunar and Mars transport habitats have been conceived in previous studies to be launched with the upcoming

Space Launch System The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle developed by NASA. As of 2022, SLS has the highest payload capacity of any rocket in operational service, as well as the greatest liftoff thrust of any r ...

(SLS), Early preliminary concepts considered 60-day and 500-day mission configurations, composed of

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

-derived hardware, the

Orion crew capsule Orion (officially Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed Martin and the Euro ...

and various support craft. The habitat would be equipped with at least one International Docking System Standard (IDSS) docking system. Developing a deep space habitat would allow a crew to live and work safely in space for about one year on missions to explore cislunar space,

, and some near-Earth asteroids. In 2015 NASA funded studies for several types of deep space habitat concepts under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP). Lockheed Martin, the main contractor of the Orion capsule, has also produced in 2018 a Deep Space Habitat concept. These concept studies will help NASA decide on a final design for the habitat element for the

Lunar Gateway The Lunar Gateway, or simply Gateway, is the first planned extraterrestrial space station in lunar orbit intended to serve as a solar-powered communication hub, science laboratory, and short-term habitation module for government-agency astr ...

with a contract potentially to be awarded in fiscal year 2019.Some snark (and details!) about NASA's proposed lunar space station
Jason Davis, ''The Planetary Society''. February 26, 2018.

Configurations

HAB/MPLM

MPLM stands for

Multi-Purpose Logistics Module A Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) is a large pressurized container that was used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Two MPLMs made a dozen trips in the Shuttle cargo bay and init ...

* 60 Day Mission - The basic 60-day mission variant would consist of a Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (CPS), ISS Destiny-derived lab module, and an airlock/tunnel. In addition, a mission-specific support craft, such as the FlexCraft or the Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV) would be docked to the airlock/tunnel. The Destiny-derived lab houses both the crew quarters and the ECLSS components. * 500 Day Mission - The 500 Day mission variant would consist of the same 60-day crew habitat and crew size. Mass increases would result from the addition of a

(MPLM) to provide additional supply storage for the extended mission duration. It would be 8 m long and 4.5 m in diameter.

MPLM/Node 1

* 60 Day Mission - The basic vehicle elements for this configuration would include a CPS, a MPLM, Utility tunnel/airlock, Node 4 Structural Test Article. The Node element would allow for the attachment of more than one FlexCraft or Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV). The Habitat would be crew serviceable at the front of the Node element opposite the tunnel. *500 Day Mission - This 500-day mission variant would have a second MPLM attached to the front on the vehicle as well as add a Cupola to the Node section.

Suggested support craft

Space Exploration Vehicle in-space concept

* Orion, is being developed by NASA, Lockheed Martin, and Airbus Defence and Space for crewed deep space travel. It is capable of carrying 4 crew, and able to withstand re-entry speeds from lunar or Martian trajectories. * MMSEV - a NASA-designed servicing craft. Capable of supporting a crew of two for up to 2 weeks and having

suitport A suitport or suitlock is an alternative technology to an airlock, designed for use in hazardous environments and in human spaceflight, especially planetary surface exploration. Suitports present advantages over traditional airlocks in terms of m ...

s for extravehicular activity (EVA). * DSH FlexCraft - a single crew vehicle, attached to the DSH similar to a visiting craft to the

. FlexCraft would be used by an individual astronaut for

EVA Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...

or tele-operated activities.Delving Deeper into NASA's DSH Configuration and Support Craft
/ref> The hardware would connect directly to the DSH airlock and would share a common atmosphere as the parent ship to provide immediate access to space without pre-breathing by DSH crew. With a pressurized volume of 0.62 m³, the FlexCraft is meant for only one person with an "excursion time" of less than 8 hours. Its propellant would be gaseous

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

, and it would have a Delta-V of 21 m/s with a total gross mass projected at 452 kg. An already-identified limitation is that it cannot be used during

solar particle event In solar physics, a solar particle event (SPE), also known as a solar energetic particle (SEP) event or solar radiation storm, is a solar phenomenon which occurs when particles emitted by the Sun, mostly protons, become accelerated either in th ...

s. The FlexCraft concept was first presented in a 2012 conference paper by Brand N. Griffin.

References

External links

Single Person Spacecraft
{{Space stations Cancelled space stations Lunar Gateway